Start-up organization appoints Jack Ma as president

(ECNS) -- Jack Ma, executive chairman of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holdings, on Monday assumed the role of president at a newly formed social enterprise called "Hupan University" in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province.

Eight leading scholars and entrepreneurs, including Qian Yingyi, Dean of the School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, and Feng Lun, Chairman of Beijing-based Vantone Group, will act as members of the organization's council.

The enterprise will offer training programs and focus on fostering a new generation of business leaders "who will maintain the bottom line and work for the betterment of society," Sina Technology reported.

It will also adhere to a non-profit and public goods structure in its business operations.

A website, hupan.com, has also been opened and claims to "educate start-up entrepreneurs with real entrepreneurial spirit."

The name Hupan, meaning lakeside in Chinese, originates from the Hupan Garden residential area, where Aliabab started its business in 1999. Taobao.com, Alibaba's customer-to-customer centered online marketplaces, was also born here in 2003.

Sources have it that Hupan University was transformed from former clubs located near the picturesque West Lake in Hangzhou.

Private clubs are prohibited from operating at historical sites, parks and other public facilities under a regulation issued by the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council in 2014 as part of efforts to combat extravagant lifestyles and bureaucracy among officials.